Thrillin',Chillin',Feet are Killin' Day 4: Golf Cheats, Lobster Treats , The Resort Pool is Neat

[WileyCoyote]

Day 4: Saturday 22 August

The previous day is here

We finally wake up at 0630 after a broken nights sleep

It was one of those where you are too cold with the aircon on

And too hot with it off

So not very restful.

In the end we reverted to the ceiling fan and that seemed to work.

Today was one of those days that had no plan and so has the potential to be completely disastrous if we don’t make our minds up quickly about what we want to do.

It had been earmarked for maybe the beach ( but we hate the beach, who had this idea?) or Kennedy ( couldn’t be doing with the drive) but in the end we decide that some time around the resort might be nice.

It was interesting that before coming away the boys had asked if we could just not “ do” quite so much everyday and have some time to properly chill.

I sat out on the balcony with my book and a coffee until Andy got up around 0730 and just before 9 we decide to go up to the other outlets.

We leave the boys messages and instructions on lunch and leave the tracfone out so that we can at least call them – not that they will answer of course as they live life with headphones on

On the way to the I Drive outlets we pull into HashHouse A GoGo and very disappointed to see the car park completely full at 0930 and drive straight out again. Of course, everyone is out for weekend brunch.

We arrive at the outlets at 0945 and head to the foodcourt – where only Subway is open .

Not the most amazing choice for breakfast really.
What can I say, we had two subs, they were ok. Another wasted food opportunity !

I was so disappointed I didn’t event take a photo - I mean its just a subway.

We get the coupon book that we had signed up for and head off for the shops . I also buy another one as we always need more than one at some stores

Was it just us or did they not cross off the stores on anyone elses books ?

How do they know you have used it or not?

Why have I come home with three books, all completely unmarked yet we did a shedload of shopping. I could have saved myself $15 !

We head for Lacoste first and have a good browse before it gets busy.

I manage to pick the only handbag with no ticket and it takes 30 minutes for them to find the price

And then its too much anyway

I do pick up some lovely scarves though that are in the bargain bins by the tills. These will be some good extra Christmas presents !



These were $8 each .

Andy picks up a couple of jumpers and a couple of tees for $122



One of the tees never made it home – this is a mystery and he is pretty fed up

But then one of my tops and a pair of my glasses never made it either

How does that happen?

We checked the condo meticulously – nothing was left behind

Most odd and totally annoying

We stop in the Surf Clearance shop and I pick up some Billabong trousers and a cardigan



I have decided these will be my new plane pants ! They are sooooo comfy and not plain white !

Lovely cardi



And the three items came to a bargain $42

The Disney store is CLOSED

Nooooooooooooo

Vacation ruined

I dont care its being refurbed or that Panera Bread is opening next door.

Disappointment

Once I had paced the closed doorway several times just to check whether it was false hoarding and there was a secret entrance, the next stop was Tommy Hilfiger kids outlet to stock up for Jamie – the idea being to get some to put away as Xmas presents



A mix of sizes – 14-16 and 16-18

Those 6 polo tops …. $45 ! $6.99 each plus tax. Rude not to !

Our receipt tells us our total savings was $135.

I do love a bargain

Into Adidas – except I sit and do some bag minding as I cant really bear the sports stores



Andy emerges with two pairs of trainers

He was growing his own store back at the condo



Our next stop was just along the road at the Marketplace Outlet Centre

This was a first for us and will be a must from now on

The Calvin Klein Clearance store may look like a jumble sale but totally worth a rummage – they had loads of great bargains in there and lots of stock – so we said we would come back.

Same with US Polo Assn – we had a browse and made a note of some items to check on with the boys .

We were wilting a bit by now.

It was gloriously hot and getting busy.

It was almost 2pm and I wanted some time by the pool.

So back home by 2.30 and we all trooped up to clubhouse.

This was the busiest we saw it all holiday and we still easily managed to find a table in the shade



Loads of space





You can see the clouds starting to build and after a while of splashing about and enjoying ourselves we trooped back again around 4.30ish.

It stayed cloudy but no rain materialised.

[WileyCoyote]

We nipped over the road to Bonanza mini golf – it was $30 for 2 games so one course today and one for later

Not as well themed as some of the others but close by and lets face it , it’s the heated competition that matters , not the scenery !



Nothing like mini golf to bring out the worst, I mean best, in the siblings.

Accusations of cheating, referee bias , referee mathematical incompetence and more cheating followed.

And it was a good laugh

The concentration is awesome



Jamie’s facial expressions are awesome



The baton twirling was awesome ( no idea what happened here)



Connor’s ball chasing skills were awesome



Andy’s cheating was awesome



It was all getting a bit tense as we neared the final hole





And it started to spit with rain which allegedly affected some player performance



Jamie won – no one quite knows how – but he did

And the other two dissected the game, and my scoring at some length

Good fun – and 5 minutes later we are back across the road just before 7pm here at Formosa Gardens Bvd.



This is one of Andy's fave places but the boys were not so keen and the menu was a bit limited for them.

We had an ace server called Billy who was bringing refills quicker than we could consume them !



Connor had fish and chips. The fish itself was nice but he didn't like the taste of the batter he said.



Jamie had kids grilled chicken. What can I say. It's grilled chicken . He said it was his least favourite meal of the holiday.



I had coconut shrimp. I am not sure why.

We normally have this as our free appetiser , I then get the pasta.

But there was some confusion between me and Andy I ended up with this as my main. It's very nice and I love the pińa colada sauce, it's just not normally what I would choose for a main meal.



I also had the Caesar salad. Which was nice.



You can just see the basket of cheddar biscuits in the background. These were snaffled up so quickly I didn't get a piccie! But we did buy some boxes of the biscuit mix at the supermarket. Nom nom.

Himself had steak and lobster and was well pleased.



With cokes, strawberry lemonade and a beer it came to $88. We left a $20 tip.

Still one of Andy's faves, but boys wouldn't go back. I'm a bit indifferent.

Can you tell who is the sea foodie in the house?

It was a nice overall experience but a bit hit and miss round the table in terms of food.

We used the sign up voucher for a free dessert and I got some carrot cake to go - this is officially nomlicious ( real word)



We set off home around 9pm and just dossed around for an hour or so.

Tomorrow is Andy’s birthday– the boys are off for a day at Disney Quest and we are undecided as yet about what we will do.

Today's spends

$18 Subway
$150 Lacoste
$42 Surf Shop
$45 Tommy Hilfiger Kids
$70 Adidas
$30 Bonanza Mini Golf ( 2 games)
$108 Red Lobster ( inc tip)

the next day is here

[Fuellady]

Another great shopping day, with more fab bargains. I've never seen that Marketplace one, where is it in relation to the I Drive outlets? Sounds like it's maybe worth a look.

Great fun at the mini golf. This seems to be working very well for you, just doing your own thing in the morning and something with the boys in the afternoon.

Shame you didn't all enjoy your evening meal.

Thanks again for sharing Amanda, really enjoying your report.

[Redrach1903]

Amazing bargains today! Good job

I've been to Red Lobster once cos my sis is a fishy foodie, but I'd never go back. Not my scene at all!

Gotta love some mini golf on hollibobs! x

[mossyflossy]

Shame abbout HHaGG...think we might have hit the outlets the same day as you but we didn't have the same levels of success: oldest DD was in Victoria Secret forevvvvvvver and by then we all kind of lost the will to live! Didn't make it to Red Lobster this trip so missed out on my cheesy scones...like you we ended up staying in at the condo on 2 or 3 nights so 2 or 3 missed stuffing opportunities!

[Kellea]

Fab ! Can't wait for more x

[mrsstitch]

loving the new word 'nomlicious'
We drove past Marketplace clearly not knowing it would be a good place to browse! Next time
Loving your trip report xxx

[jocat]

I always look at your bargains in amazement - I never seem to find much to buy in the outlets. I think half of the problem is it's normally so hot and humid when we're there, I can't really be bothered with looking for long. But it seems I should persevere a bit more!

[lisahump]

The cheesy scones are the best part of red lobster I enjoyed your food report so looking forward to the rest

[Guest]

Love it x